Atlanta spa shootings | Timeline of events
On March 16, 2021, eight people were shot and killed at three spas, one in Cherokee County and two more in Fulton County.
Eight people were shot and killed at three spas on March 16, 2021, one location in Cherokee County and two in Fulton County.
Six of the eight people killed were of Asian descent and worked at the spas.
A year later, the shooter in the tragedy faces the death penalty, and families continue to mourn the loss of loved ones while speaking out against anti-Asian violence in the country.
Below is a timeline of events of that day and how the cases against the shooter, Robert Aaron Long, have progressed in the last 365 days.
Young's Asians Massage deadly shooting
Cherokee County deputies report that five people have been shot at Young's Asian Massage on Highway 92 in Acworth.
“We heard another gunshot,” Marcus Lyon, a customer told 11Alive a year ago, “that’s when I dove and hid behind the bed.”
Lyon said he quickly realized he and everyone else inside the establishment were in danger. The woman who’d been giving him a massage was among those who were shot and killed.
“I saw her fall,” he said. “That was, like, wow, I’m about to die.”
Cherokee County Sheriff Frank Reynolds said they used video to quickly identify a suspect and posted photos on their social media accounts.
"Shortly thereafter, we were contacted by members of the family indicating that that may be their their son," Reynolds said.
The suspect was later identified as Robert Aaron Long, a 21-year-old white man.
Altogether, four people were killed; Xiaojie Tan, Daoyou Feng, Delaina Ashley Yaun-Gonzalez, and Paul Andre Michels. A fifth person in the spa, Elcias Hernandez-Ortiz, was shot in the face by the gunman but survived.
Photos: Fatal spa shooting in Cherokee County
APD responds to two other Atlanta spa locations
According to Chief Rodney Bryant, officers with Atlanta Police said they were initially responding to a robbery call but found three people shot and killed at Gold Spa on Piedmont Road.
"While investigating that location, they received another call at 1907 Piedmont Road, where they found another female shot inside that location," Bryant said at the time.
This third shooting occurred across the street, over at Aromatherapy Spa.
Bryant said Atlanta Police connected with the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office shortly after.
The victims included Soon Chung Park, Sun Cha Kim, Yong Ae Yue, and Hyun Jung Grant.
Atlanta spa shootings
Police search for Robert Aaron Long
Long's parents told police how they could track him using the locater app they’d installed on his cell phone.
Police would eventually capture Long on I-75 in Crisp County, 150 miles to the south, while he was driving to Florida to try to shoot more people at more spas.
Georgia State Patrol Lt. Mark Rowley said they had a trooper monitoring traffic on I-75 South.
"The trooper observed the suspect's vehicle traveling south. He started following the vehicle and waited for backup, which included two other Georgia state troopers, as well as the sheriff of this county and some of his deputies," Rowley said. "They initiated the traffic stop and then immediately pitted the vehicle. After the vehicle was pitted, the suspect was taken into custody without further incident and transported to the county jail."
Authorities said a 9mm gun was recovered during the traffic stop.
Long's charges in Cherokee County
Long later pleaded guilty to the Cherokee County crimes to avoid the death penalty there; the families of those he killed in Acworth agreed to the deal.
His sentence included four consecutive terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Cherokee County District Attorney Shannon Wallace called Long “a cold-blooded murderer.”
Long would claim that he was ashamed and hated himself. He also blamed others at the spas for his failures.
“The defendant’s rationale for this crime is sick and twisted,” Wallace concluded on July 27, the day the gunman entered guilty pleas in a Cherokee County courtroom to the murders in Acworth.
She added, “the fact is, there’s no one to blame for the defendant’s failures and sins but the defendant himself.”
Long even told the judge he never even knew the victims' names.
“All of the victims in this case are innocent,” the judge, Ellen McElyea, said from the bench. “None of them deserved the fate that was visited upon them by Mr. Long. Once hatred is given a gun, it doesn’t matter who gets in the way.”
Wallace said later she was prepared not only to seek the death penalty against Long but also to prosecute him for hate crimes against women.
Long's charges in Fulton County
Long still faces prosecution in Fulton County for the shootings at the two Atlanta spas.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis described it as “a case that warrants the ultimate penalty."
She added, "we do not have another case with that much loss of life."
Willis has said she also intends to try Long on hate crimes charges, based on the race and sex of the four people he killed in Fulton County.
“I have no intention of removing the death notice,” Willis said.
A Fulton County court set a hearing for April 19, 2022, but a trial could be years away.
